It is reductive to call War Machine “Predator in the scrublands if the Predator was a mech-looking robot alien”. And yet, that does feel like the most thorough summary of the whole endeavor. More to the point, I’m not offering that description as a reason to stay away.

81 (Adam Ritchson) and his brother (Jai Courtney) have long discussed attending the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP), even while serving overseas. Unfortunately, during the prelude, a surprise Taliban attack levels the brothers and their fellow soldiers. 81 survives, struggling to get his brother to base despite a knee injury. Sadly, he can’t get back in time to save his sibling’s life.

Two years and multiple tries later, 81 successfully enrolls in the program. He rejects a leadership role and refuses to build relationships with his fellow trainees. As he repeatedly states, his only interest is getting across that finish line. While his singular focus worries Sergeant Major Sheridan (Dennis Quaid) and First Sergeant Torres (Esai Morales), they can’t justify cutting him from the program. He, 7 (Stephan James), and a cadre of fellow soldiers who barely get individual personalities reach the final training mission, a simulated search-and-rescue-and-destroy. Unbeknownst to the trainees, though, an entity has made camp in the middle of their course. The simulation becomes very real.

First, one must argue that in a just world, 7 would be our lead character. James portrays him as thoughtful, insightful, and compassionate, while still entirely competent. Honestly, it is the kind of character Ritchson could also play if the movie wanted to let him have any kind of range. Instead, 81 is a near-silent trauma survivor who has no time even to say anything beyond the smallest amount of words until the plot forces him to. It is one of those kinds of stories, and it works well enough. That owes plenty to the fact that Ritchson is just such an onscreen presence, even when emotionally shackled. But someday, it would be nice to see an action movie about a guy who is great at his job AND capable of having something resembling a human personality. Alas, that day is not today. Sorry, Stephan James.

In place of that kind of film, War Machine offers the very familiar, done largely with practical effects and location shoots. It might seem a little silly to applaud such a small thing, but it gives the final product a kind of weight that is often absent from Netflix’s direct-to-streaming actioners. As written (with James Beaufort) and directed by Patrick Hughes, this is a movie quite obviously standing on the shoulders of giants. But as Hughes ratchets up the pace to something near relentless in the final third of the nearly hour and 50-minute running time, the audience is liable to worry less about originality and more about taking the ride.

War Machine is no empty adrenaline ride, though. Despite most of the characters being paper-thin, Hughes sneaks something that feels like a human heart into this thing. RASP camp is told largely through montage. Each wave of dismissals just sends a handful more anonymous people back to their lives. But there’s still a kind of collective feeling of loss and relief each time. No one has enough depth to give the audience actual sadness, to be clear. However, Hughes constructs the movie smartly so these moments have meaning, even if they are small and fleeting. This is a science fiction film populated by people, and that makes a difference.

The robot-predator thing isn’t an especially unique design. If you’ve seen mech, you can picture this one. It’s like a boxier ED-209 done up with military taupe and given better joints. However, the violence it wreaks is tangible and chaotic, frequently leaving a mark. This critic has never been a particularly astute observer of the practical v. CGI, and even I can feel the weight beyond the stunts and effects.

It is important to temper the praise, though, for all the reasons mentioned above. War Machine is a fine example of the form, more than mediocre. But it isn’t especially unique or spectacular. It is a rough-and-tumble movie that moves quickly and leaves maximum devastation. If the actors can pour out some humanity onscreen along the way, well, so be it.

War Machine is locked-and-loaded on Netflix March 6.

War Machine Trailer: